Making yoghurt is easy and guarantees the ingredients in your food. It is also cheaper than buying yoghurt.

There are several potential problems with store-bought yoghurt, as explained in the article mentioned above. Not all yogurt is gluten-free, believe it or not. It should be, and most brands of natural (unflavored) yoghurt is, but you can’t always be sure.

The good thing about yoghurt is that it has much less lactose in it than milk, because the bacteria in the culture turns the lactose into yoghurt. There may still be some lactose, so it isn’t suitable for super-sensitive people. It probably won’t help you if you have a milk allergy.

Yoghurt Making Instructions

Bring one liter (2 pints) of milk to a boil. It does not actually have to boil, 85°C or so, but bringing the milk to a boil is easy and guarantees that all the milk, not just some of it, has been properly pasteurized.

Allow milk to cool to about 40°C. The fastest way to do this is to fill a sink with cold water, and put the pot in the sink, siring the milk in the pot. Be careful that no water from the sink splashes into the milk or it may contaminate it. If you use this method, cool until the thermometer reads 43°C or so because by the time the thermometer reads that temperature, the milk will actually be closer to 40°C.

Fill one large (2 liter) or 2 small (1 liter each) containers with water and place them in a picnic cooler.

Add some active yogurt to a plastic or glass container that holds at least one liter.

Add some of the milk to the container. Mix with yoghurt until yogurt has broken apart and is evenly distributed in the milk.

Add the rest of the milk. Stir.

Place the milk/yoghurt mixture on top of the container of hot water in the cooler.

Allow to set. This can take between 3 and 7 hours, depending on how well the yoghurt maintains its temperature.

Active Yoghurt

Active yoghurt means yogurt with the live bacteria in it that turn milk into yoghurt.

Gluten Free Yoghurt Notes

If all goes according to plan, you’ll have wonderful, gluten-free yoghurt in about 4 hours or so, give or take. But there are a few things that can go wrong that you need to look out for.

There are two really important things about making yoghurt: the starting culture and the temperature. You also have to watch out for contamination.

The starting culture can just be store-bought yoghurt. You have to be careful that it is gluten-free. You may have to experiment with different brands. In my area, Astro and Saugeen yogurts have worked well for me. You may have to experiment with different brands in case the one you try does not work out.

I have found that Canadian milk will not set properly if the temperature is too low. This was not the case in Australia where I first learned how to make it, leading me to believe that Canadian milk is likely contaminated with antibiotics. I suspect US milk is worse still.

I’ve since switched to organic milk and am unwilling to experiment with less exact methods for judging the correct temperature of the milk (I used to just use my finger, when it felt neither hot not cold, it was about right).

Making your own yoghurt is fun, a bit cheaper than buying it, guaranties a high level of active culture, and most importantly, guarantees gluten free yoghurt.

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